How many government agents does it take to kill a baby deer? No, that isn’t the start of a bad joke, it’s the question being asked in Wisconsin.

Nine heavily armed WI DNR agents and four sheriff’s deputies raided the Society of St. Francis, a no-kill animal rescue, on the Kenosha-Illinois border because of reports that the rescue was harboring a fawn. It’s a crime to keep a wild animal in Wisconsin.

However, in Illinois there are wildlife rescues that do allow orphaned wild animals. That is where the fawn was supposed to be going the day after it was killed by a Wisconsin SWAT team.

The raid was conducted without notifying the operators of the rescue ahead of time and it appears at least one game warden conducted a covert surveillance operation in order to observe the fawn prior to the para-military raid.

According to WISN, the DNR isn’t making any apologies and is in fact, doubling down on their actions.

Supervisor Jennifer Niemeyer said the law requires the DNR agents to euthanize animals like Giggles because of the potential for disease and danger to humans.

OK, so that’s the policy. However, wait until you hear Niemeyer’s logic for the way the raid was carried out. Also according to WISN,

“Could you have made a phone call before showing up, I mean, that’s a lot of resources,” WISN 12 News investigative reporter Colleen Henry asked.

“If a sheriff’s department is going in to do a search warrant on a drug bust, they don’t call them and ask them to voluntarily surrender their marijuana or whatever drug that they have before they show up,” Niemeyer said,

Are you kidding me? Niemeyer is seriously comparing raiding the homes of drug dealers with enforcing a state wildlife statute?

If this is not the epitome of an overgrown, overly powerful government, I don’t know what is.